Sogdiana Edge Past Mashal in Super League Encounter
Sogdiana defeated Mashal 5:2 in the Super League's regular season round 20 on Friday. The hosts took control early and held on despite a late push from the visitors. And here's the thing — you can see the shift in momentum just by watching when the goals fell.
Z. Urinboev opened the scoring in the fourth minute, then added his second before half-time in the fortieth. F. Ivanovic pulled one back for Mashal in the thirty-third, but Z. Urinboev's strike in the fortieth put Sogdiana ahead again. By then the pattern was clear: Sogdiana playing with more purpose in the final third.
M. Jurabaev extended the lead in the forty-second minute before L. Doriev scored for Mashal shortly after the break. J. Boltaboev made it five in the sixty-sixth, and K. Murtazoev added a late consolation for the visitors in the seventy-first. Things came to a head with substitutions at fifty-seven — three for Mashal in quick succession, trying to change something.
Sogdiana brought on P. Bureev in the thirty-first and N. Soyibov in the forty-third. M. Jurabaev came off in the forty-fifth, S. Mavlonkulov replaced him in the forty-sixth, and Z. Urinboev was substituted in the fifty-first. Mashal's trio at fifty-seven — S. Fayziev, S. Abduraymov, and M. Alikulov — couldn't shift the game. I. Kobilov picked up a yellow card in stoppage time.
To be fair, the statistics tell an interesting story. Mashal controlled possession at 0.56 to 0.44 and registered more corners — nine against three. But Sogdiana edged attacks 69 to 68. Both sides registered zero shots on or off target, which suggests the goals came from tight spaces rather than sustained pressure.
The result keeps Sogdiana in tenth place with 27 points from 20 games — eight wins, three draws, nine defeats. Mashal remain bottom at sixteenth with just four points from one win, one draw, and eighteen losses. The hosts had won three of their last five before this match, while Mashal had lost four in a row going into Friday.